OAKLAND — Joe Blanton often looks like he’s in a hurry when he pitches at McAfee Coliseum.

It has nothing to do with rushing on the mound and throwing his timing out of whack.

The right-hander has been involved in some of the A’s most briskly played home games of 2007. Another one came Monday night, when Blanton went eight innings and made quick work of Cincinnati Reds hitters in a 6-1 victory that took just 2 hours, 10 minutes.

Not only did he send a crowd of 16,466 quickly on its merry way, he delivered a much-needed outing for the A’s after their pitching staff was pounded the previous two days by the St. Louis Cardinals.

“It was needed, needed for the bullpen,” A’s manager Bob Geren said. “(Blanton has) been great all year. When you get hit around for a couple of days, you’re looking for someone to do that. That’s usually the No. 1 (pitcher’s) job.”

Blanton seemed to have everything working against the lowly Reds, who came in with the National League’s worst record at 27-43. He worked quickly, spotted his pitches on both corners of the plate and got several quick outs early in at-bats.

He moved to 7-4 and lowered his ERA to 3.43.

Blanton has tossed both of the A’s complete games this season. One came on April 25, when he threw a six-hitter against the Mariners only to lose a 2-0 decision to Jarrod Washburn. That contest took just 1 hour, 47 minutes.

Then on June 2, he shut out the Minnesota Twins 1-0 in a 1-hour, 49-minute contest, a game played so fast that fans had to wait until darkness fell to enjoy a postgame fireworks display. At the time, those two games were the fastest to be played in the majors this season.

Blanton also happened to pitch very well against Boston on June 7 but lost 1-0 at the Coliseum when Curt Schilling nearly spun a no-hitter.

“It’s not going to happen every time, but I like working quick,” Blanton said. “Sometimes it’s chilly and I don’t want to be out there.”

The A’s also were swift in their offensive approach.

They struck for five runs and batted around in a fifth-inning rally that was punctuated by Mark Ellis’ three-run homer.

With runners on first and second and no outs, Mark Kotsay hit a shot that ate up Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips and went for a single to load the bases.

Nick Swisher brought one run home with a ground out to first to break a 1-1 tie. Eric Chavez hit a sacrifice fly for another run. After Jack Cust walked to put runners on the corners with two outs, Ellis put the game out of reach.

He lined a 3-1 pitch from Reds starter Kyle Lohse (3-9) over the wall in left for a three-run shot. His seventh homer of the season made it 6-1.

Ellis now has four homers and 14 RBI in 16 games since the birth of his son, Briggs.

“He’s been taking some real good swings,” Geren said. “He looks like he’s coming on and swinging the bat well.”

That was more than enough support for Blanton, who scattered seven hits, walked none and struck out five.

The only damage against him came in the second, when Alex Gonzalez scored on a 6-4-3 double play that tied the game 1-1.

The A’s had taken a 1-0 lead with an unearned run in the first. With the bases loaded and two outs, Ellis hit a ground ball that Gonzalez booted at shortstop to let the run score.

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